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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson hasn't ruled Joe Cole out of the clash with Chelsea despite the club confirming he has a hamstring injury. Cole had to be substituted during the 1-0 win over Bolton on Sunday and, following a scan, the club seemed to confirm he would miss the chance to face former club Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday. Dr Peter Brukner, Liverpool's head of sports medicine and sports science, said: "The scan confirmed Joe has sustained a hamstring strain. It is not a serious injury but still means he is likely to be out for two weeks." But Hodgson later said the 28- year-old's injury is not serious and he could yet line up against the champions. He told the club's website: "With Cole it's not as bad as feared. It shouldn't keep him out for that long. "I would say it's a week to 10- day injury. The scan was positive in that it's a very minor tear he has, but you can't really put a definite date on how long that tear is going to take to repair. But the physical people are very optimistic. "It's a question of how quickly he can recover and what progress he can make. At the moment he's not even ruled out for the Chelsea game but we'll see how he goes later in the week.'' Cole has struggled to produce his best form since joining Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer, but Hodgson is confident he will improve. "There have been flashes of quality - notably the ball he produced for Torres in the win over Blackburn," Hodgson said. "I think Joe has done well in that he is so committed, he works his socks off and he wants to do well here. He is a quality player, but we haven't seen the best of him. Absolutely not. There is more to come from him and he knows that." Cole will definitely miss Liverpool's Europa League clash with Napoli on Thursday but full- back Glen Johnson could feature against the Italians at Anfield after four games out with a thigh injury. Johnson trained with the team but in-form fellow defender Sotirios Krygiakos was withdrawn as a precaution. Hodgson said: "Kyrgiakos is feeling his groin slightly. As a matter of caution we took him out of today's training session half way through to give him a bit of a rest.'' Forward Dirk Kuyt continues to make good progress in his recovery from an ankle injury and could come into contention to face Chelsea. The Dutchman was injured on international duty last month but the problem has not proved as bad as first thought. "For the weekend he's a possibility if all goes well with the training sessions on Friday and Saturday,'' Hodgson said. The news is not so positive for Daniel Agger, who looks set to remain on the sidelines for some time. The Dane has been out since September 25. Hodgson said: "It's a question of time and there's not so much more the physios and medical staff can do. We have to be patient.''